With a focus on expanding its skills-based offerings, the Management Development Institute of Singapore (MDIS), Singapore’s oldest not-for-profit professional institute for lifelong learning, announced the launch of its two new hospitality facilities in conjunction with its partnership with notable City of Glasgow College. The launch also precedes the introduction of several new academic programmes across various disciplines.

“The new facilities and programmes are a part of MDIS’ academic thrust to introduce more practical, skills-based curricula in the areas of F&B, culinary management, fashion, healthcare and more to nurture future-ready graduates”, said MDIS Secretary-General, Dr R Theyvendran. “This is in line with our Vision 2020 goal to equip both students and mid-career professionals with future-ready skillsets that are, or will be in demand, by the economy.”

The new MDIS Bakery & Culinary Studio are built to industry standards; students will benefit from the proximity between their work stations and the instructor’s table. For a start, MDIS plans to host various culinary and bakery workshops which are accessible to students and the public.

The institute is a WSQ Approved Training Organisation. Courses approved under the WSQ Framework will be accredited and qualifications obtained will be nationally recognised. Students, working professionals and the public can thus be confident that the skills they acquire from the MDIS Bakery & Culinary Studio workshops and courses the institute aims to roll out over the next few months will be of high quality and accepted by the industry here.

The launch heralds the extension of the partnership between MDIS and the City of Glasgow College, to extend the latter’s internationally recognised and practicum based programmes to students and working professionals here who wish to enter, upgrade or progress further in the hospitality industry.

City of Glasgow College’s Senior Chef Lecturer and winner of BBC’s Master Chef: The Professionals 2016, Mr. Gary Maclean and Curriculum Head for Food, Mr Willie McCurrach, were present to grace the special occasion yesterday. The two culinary experts hosted a Mystery Box Chef Challenge with five top industry chefs and Master Classes for prospective students (see Annex).

Dr R Theyvendran shared, “MDIS leverages on 60 years of expertise in private education to provide a transformative education that nurtures future-ready graduates. This includes partnering with renowned universities around the world. We are delighted that Gary and Willie are able to be here with us to explore opportunities to offer students and working professionals more choices in culinary-related courses.”

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About MDIS

Founded in 1956, the Management Development Institute of Singapore (MDIS) is Singapore’s oldest not-for-profit professional institute for lifelong learning. MDIS has two main subsidiaries - Management Development Institute of Singapore Pte Ltd to oversee its Singapore academic operations, and MDIS International Pte Ltd to further its globalisation strategy.

MDIS offers internationally accredited courses from globally recognised universities in France, the United Kingdom and the United States of America. The institute has been EduTrust certified since 2010 and is one of the first Private Education Institutions to be registered under the Enhanced Registration Framework.

MDIS is one of the leading private education institutes (PEIs) to be ranked Top 2 among PEIs in Singapore, according to the Webometrics ranking of World Universities by Cybermetrics Lab in January 2017 (https://www.webometrics.info/en/Asia/Singapore%20). In 2015, MDIS received the Enterprise 50 Award for its contributions and resilience in spurring Singapore’s economy.

MDIS set up the Management Development and Consultancy in 1995 to address the training needs of the workforce. The Service Quality Centre was acquired in 2014 to diversify the institute’s offerings in training solutions and secure its position as a premium regional provider of training solutions.

MDIS has three international campuses - Tashkent in Uzbekistan (2008), Johor in Malaysia (2013) and Chennai in India (2015). MDIS also has representative offices in China, India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and Thailand, as well as agents throughout Southeast Asia.